


The Change

by missingnolovefic



Series: Misfits [4]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Multi, Vampires vs Werewolves Prejudice, Violence, Werewolf!Jeremy, despite Ryan's protests, in which Gavin and Michael adopt a werewolf, vampire!Ryan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 19:58:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15275100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingnolovefic/pseuds/missingnolovefic
Summary: Gavin and Michael have been living with Ryan for a while now, when they found out about his true nature. With the vampire chasing them through the woods, Michael runs into an unforeseen obstacle: a pack of werewolves.





	The Change

**Author's Note:**

> Set after The Chase. Possibly even on the same night.
> 
> Big shout-out to my betas, Kays and Luna, who helped me smooth out the edges of this story a lot. Seriously, guys, I can't thank you enough <3

It was dark in the forest, despite the full moon. Light filtered sparsely through the thick canopy, and it was quiet except for the occasional hooting owl. No signs of life, not even crickets chirping as Michael carefully fumbled his way through the trees and bushes. Leaves rustled to his right, and Michael froze, hand pressed to a thick tree trunk.

Silence.

The bark felt rough against his palm, but was thankfully dry. Carefully, Michael made his way through the underbrush. Branches snapped under his feet, and Michael bit down a curse. He paused and listened. More rustling leaves, another branch snapping, and Michael glared straight ahead into the darkness. Shit. Fuck.

 _Looks like Gavin got got already_.

It was an uncharitable thought, flitting through his mind.

 _Couldn’t he have distracted Ryan for a bit longer? I was_ so _close to getting out._

The street with the bus station couldn’t be more than a half-mile out from this point. He’d been careful not to go directly for it, less Ryan caught onto his plan. Instead, he’d meandered back and forth, slowly approaching his goal.

Footsteps.

Michael frowned. The rustle of leaves and snapping of branches of someone tearing through the underbrush- that didn’t sound like Ryan. The vampire could be damn near silent if he put his mind to it, but even when he deliberately made noise to startle them, it didn’t sound like- like someone was _running_. Maybe Gavin had gotten away, after all.

_And now the idiot is leading Ryan straight to me._

But before Michael could get angry, or even formulate a plan to avoid both of them, _something_ burst through the bushes. A huge, hulking shape of brown fur leaped at him. Michael’s blood pounded in his ears. The wolf - because Michael knew what those looked like, knew damn well what he was facing - continued its loping run, heading straight for Michael-

And then stumbled and crashed.

Michael stared as the heap of fur whimpered, maybe two feet away from him. He didn’t dare move, pressed up against the nearest tree. More leaves rustled, another branch breaking, and the wolf’s head snapped up, eyes wide in terror. A howl ripped through the air, and the wolf _trembled_ , curling into itself. Another dark shape peeled off from the darkness, dark grey fur blending in perfectly with the shadows. Two more followed it, light grey and black respectively, making their way lazily to the fallen wolf, encircling it.

Michael’s brow furrowed in thought. This… this didn’t seem right. These wolves weren’t acting like a _pack_. They didn’t check on their downed packmate, or move to help him at all.

The dark grey wolf was unmistakably the leader though, the others flinching back when he turned golden eyes on them. They didn’t seem to notice Michael, either. The alpha approached the shaking furball, growling. The first wolf flinched, curling up tighter. On some unseen signal, the other wolves leaped forward, growling and snarling. Fur flew through the air, like dark snowflakes drifting on the breeze, and Michael stood frozen in his spot.

It took Michael a moment to realize the furball wasn’t even fighting _back_.

The thought hit Michael like a freighter. But as he watched, frozen in shock and horror, it sunk in that he was right. The other wolves were darting in and out of the fight, biting at the prone wolf, who just laid there and took the punishment, shivering and whimpering in pain. Blood spattered his fur, turning the already dark shade even darker. The alpha seized one of the wolf’s legs, dragging him back through the dirt several paces away from Michael.

Something dark and ugly rose up in Michael’s throat. This wasn’t a _pack_. That’s not how a proper wolf _behaved_.

“Hey!” he yelled without thinking, stepping away from the tree. Glancing around, he grabbed a heavy branch lying on the ground. “Hey! Get away from him!”

The wolves looked up curiously. Even the prone wolf shifted his head and opened one amber eye to glance at him. Michael swallowed and straightened.

“These are not your woods, so back the fuck off!”

The alpha threw his head back and howled, trailing off into a hacking sounding cough. Laughter, Michael realized and grit his teeth. The rest of the ragged pack joined in hesitantly, yowling in concert and petering off uncertainly. The alpha wolf turned to face Michael, sauntering up to him. Michael scowled and brandished his branch.

“I’m not stupid,” he said loudly. The forest fell oddly silent, and there was a prickling feeling in the back of his neck. Michael bared his teeth. “I know what you are, _wolf_. This is _not_ your territory.”

The alpha cocked his head, growling lightly. Michael narrowed his eyes, keeping the branch between them. The alpha feinted, and Michael whacked him over the snout in retaliation. Teeth flashed, snapping at the wood. The wolf tugged, and Michael barely held on, gritting his teeth and digging his heels into the soft earth. The next tug and he lost his grip, the branch flying wildly off to the side. The wolf huffed, turning its mocking gaze on him. It took a step closer to him, baring its teeth, and Michael instinctively flinched back, losing his footing and falling onto his ass with a muffled curse.

The alpha made that horrible laughing sound again, stalking forward as Michael started scrambling backwards. The little furball made a short huffing noise and got snarled at for his trouble. The leg muscles tensed as the wolf made to jump, and Michael’s heart jumped into his throat as he brought a hand up to try and protect his face-

A snarl tore through the silence, a blurr whirling past Michael and tackling the wolf just as he was about to attack, flinging him off to hit a tree several feet back. The pack stared for a shocked second, before the prone one’s whimper ripped them out of it. Growling, the black one leaped at the dark figure, but Ryan stepped lazily to the side without flinching, snagging the wolf by the scruff. Another circled around, trying to flank them. Ryan glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and tossed the black wolf its way. The two collided in mid-air, landing with a yelp in a tangle of limbs and fur, rolling away due to the momentum.

A third one tried to sneak up during the distraction, teeth snapping for Ryan’s leg. Faster than the eye could follow, Ryan kicked that one in the mutt, before whirling around and booting it in the ribs, launching it into a nearby tree. Michael watched with wide eyes as the vampire took care of the pack in quick succession until the last one backed away in fear.

“These are my woods,” Ryan snarled, towering defensively in front of Michael. “Leave.”

The wolves scrambled up and glanced at each other, carefully backing up with their tails between their legs. The alpha barked and snarled, but as Ryan’s crimson gaze fell on him, he snapped his teeth one last time before turning to run away. Michael stepped up to Ryan’s side, and together they watched them slip away into the shadows, though Michael was certain Ryan’s eyes tracked them far longer than his own.

A whimper caught Michael’s attention, and he looked down to see the hurt wolf curling up in front of them, ears pressed flat to its head and tail tugged between its legs. Michael felt a pang of pity.

At his side, Ryan followed his gaze and snarled. “I said, _leave_.”

“Wait,” Michael said, grabbing Ryan’s arm. The vampire turned to stare at him impassively, but he kept glancing at the wolf on the floor.

“You don’t know what these creatures are,” Ryan grit out darkly, glaring at the wolf. “You have no idea what you’re dealin-”

“He’s a fucking werewolf, so what,” Michael burst out, throwing his hands in the air. “Big whoop-de-do. He’s _hurt_ , Ryan.”

Leaves rustled behind him, and then a branch snapped. Ryan barely turned his head while Michael whirled around, heart beating against his chest.

“Michael?” a familiar voice called, and Michael relaxed.

“Over here!” he yelled back. Gavin came stumbling out of the brushes moments later, twigs and leaves caught in his hair and clothes. He looked around wildly, eyes darting from Ryan to Michael to the wolf on the ground.

“What happened?” Gavin asked, out of breath. His gaze flit over Michael, catching on the scratches on his arm. “Ryan said you were calling for help?”

Michael glanced at Ryan from the corner of his eyes. “Not in so many words, but yeah. Ran into a pack of wolves.”

He nodded to the prone one. Gavin frowned, stepping up to them carefully.

“A whole pack?”

“Yeah.” Michael shrugged. “They were hunting this one here. Don’t worry, Ryan ran them off.”

“Except for this one, who _doesn’t know what’s good for him_ ,” Ryan snarled, baring his teeth. The wolf whimpered, averting his gaze.

“ _Because_ he’s fucking hurt, moron,” Michael points out _again_ , starting to get annoyed.

“It’s dange- _Gavin_ ,” Ryan snapped, reaching out to stop the blond. Gavin just ducked under his arm.

“Aww, you poor puppy,” he cooed, dropping down next to the wolf and holding out his hand for it to sniff. The wolf nudged the hand with his snout, whimpering again. Gavin frowned, looking back over his shoulder at Michael. “He should be able to understand us, right?”

Michael shrugged. “Normally, yeah.”

“Gavin, don’t-” Ryan started, but Gavin ignored him stubbornly.

“I’m going to touch you, see where you’re hurt. That okay?” Gavin asked the wolf, who hesitated, gaze flitting between him, Michael and Ryan. Finally, his head dipped. “Alright. Thank you.”

Gavin carefully ran his hands through the wolf’s fur, brow furrowing. The wolf lifted his head, nose following the hand. Ryan made an aborted move to pull Gavin away when the wolf opened his mouth, but he only gave Gavin’s fingers a quick lick.

“He’s bleeding from several spots, but they’re mostly grazes,” Gavin reported back, hands going from exploring to petting the wolf. “Except for his hindleg here- We need to bandage it before he loses more blood.”

“You’re not dragging the mutt into the house,” Ryan declared crossly. Michael rounded on him.

“Jesus, Ryan, the fuck’s your problem?”

“That’s a _werewolf_ ,” Ryan pointed out sharply. Michael threw his hands in the air.

“And you’re a vampire! So what?”

“ _Exactly_.”

“Guys!” Gavin interrupted, sounding properly annoyed. “We can argue about that when he’s not bleeding out in front of us.”

He pointed a finger at Ryan, who instinctively took a step back at the glower.

“You don’t want him in the house? Fine. He can sleep it off on the party couch in the barn.” Gavin nodded decisively. “Michael, help me carry him.”

“Yeah, okay, just a second, boi.”

The wolf was heavy even with his small size - big for a regular wolf, maybe, but nothing compared to other weres. Young, if Michael guessed correctly. And definitely male. Even with the wolf holding as still as possibly, they had trouble heaving him up between them. The wolf yelped in pain, whining low in his throat as they jostled his bad leg. They made it maybe fifty feet before Gavin’s grip slipped, and they had to hastily set him down.

Behind them, Ryan sighed.

“Alright, fine,” Ryan snapped, brushing past Michael and leaning down. He stared the wolf in the eye for a long moment. “The barn, then. Just this once.”

The wolf nodded hesitantly. With a snort of disgust, Ryan lifted him up. The vampire stalked ahead, lingering just long enough to make sure they kept up. Michael and Gavin exchanged a look and shrugged.

They followed Ryan through the forest until they arrived back at the mansion, and then into the barn, where he carefully set the wolf down on the lumpy couch. Michael raised a brow at Gavin, who grimaced. Ryan stepped back, crossing his arms and glowering at them pointedly.

“I, uh- I’ll go grab the first aid-kit.” With that, Gavin hurried off, heading for the small office-type room in the corner, leaving him alone with Ryan. Michael huffed. Figured.

“So what crawled up your spine and died?” he asked gruffly, returning Ryan’s steady gaze. The vampire blinked slowly. “What? What is it? You’re not usually this-” He waved a hand about. “-obstinate.”

“Obstinate,” Ryan drawled, arching a brow. “I don’t think you realize what you are dealing with, Michael.”

“The injured werewolf, or the prissy vampire?” Michael shot back. His fists clenched at his side, disliking the condescending tone of Ryan’s words. Something softened in Ryan’s expression for a split second, before it hardened again.

“You know I wouldn’t hurt you, Michael,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “No, the werewolf. Do you even know how dangerous they are? How easy it is for them to kill a human?”

Michael scoffed. “Only if they’re really pissed off and got no manners. The pack-”

“- _attacked_ you,” Ryan yelled, voice raising with his hands as he gesticulated wildly. “If I were just a second later, just a tad bit slower, you-”

“Well, how the fuck was I supposed to know they didn’t play by the rules!” Michael shouted, hand cutting through the air. “That’s not how it works! And anyway, this one hasn’t done a thing-”

“ _Yet_ ,” Ryan spit angrily, taking a step closer. His eyes flashed red. “And what will it take to convince you of the danger? For it to bite the hand that feeds it? To bite Gavin, maul him until he’s unrecognizable? They’re wild, _uncivilised_ creatures with no logic or laws-!”

“You’re wrong,” Gavin interrupted quietly. Michael and Ryan turned as one to face him. Gavin fidgeted, setting the first-aid kit down next to the couch. He kept his eyes down. “Werewolves live in packs, and packs have rules. If a wolf goes rogue-”

“-the pack deals with it,” Michael continued, nodding along. Ryan sneered.

“And how, pray tell, did you come to that conclusion?”

Michael caught Ryan’s eyes and held his stare for a long moment.

“Because my brother,” Michael stated slowly, gaze driling into Ryan, “is a werewolf.”

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

“Your brother,” Ryan repeated, his voice cold. Michael lifted his chin.

“Yes.”

Gavin fussed with the kit, shoulders hunched. Ryan opened and closed his mouth, jaw working.

“Since when?” he finally asked.

“Since we were young.” Michael shrugged. “He was bitten as a kid. I sometimes hung out with his friends from his pack.”

“The pack that bit him. As a kid,” Ryan echoed. It didn’t sound like a question, but… Michael tilted his head.

“The pack that took him in,” he corrected gently. “The rogue that bit him was executed.”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed slightly, sweeping across the couch. The wolf watched them intently, letting Gavin fuss over his wounds.

“You don’t think he’s a rogue wolf,” Ryan concluded, glancing at Michael, who shook his head.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said quietly, feeling his way around the thought. Something was bugging him. Now that he wasn’t arguing with Ryan (though he took note that the argument hadn’t been solved, just shelved for later), he took his time to inspect the wolf. Gavin was cutting away bundles of matted fur, streaked with drying blood. Underneath he could see bone poking through skin, but that wasn’t unusual for dogs. Or young werewolves who were still growing into their new shape. Still.

“They didn’t go for a killing blow,” Gavin pointed out, dabbing disinfectant on the bleeding hindleg. The wolf winced. “None of these wounds are particularly lethal. It’s more like…”

“They were hackling him.” Michael frowned. “It definitely wasn’t an execution. More like… bullying?”

He didn’t intend for his voice to lilt in question, but he still felt confused. What he’d witnessed- that wasn’t how a pack behaved.

“A rogue pack,” Ryan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “You think I have a rogue pack that’s trying to settle on the borders of my territory.”

“I don’t know,” Michael huffed, shrugging. “It’s possible.”

“We could wait for the sun to rise and ask him,” Gavin suggested. Ryan bristled immediately.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Gavin started to sound annoyed. “It’s not like we’re gonna figure it out tonight.”

“You’re not confronting him without me,” Ryan insisted. Gavin eyed him crossly.

“And what, you want us to lock him away until tomorrow night?”

When it looked like Ryan was seriously considering that option, Gavin rolled his eyes.

“Ryan, no, Ryan.”

Ryan crossed his arms and looked away. Gavin bit his lip and turned back to the wolf, carefully wrapping his leg in bandages. Michael chewed on the inside of his cheek, then huffed, stepping over to Ryan and tugging on his arm.

“Look,” he said in a low voice, nudging Ryan’s arms apart. “We’ll be fine. Come morning he’ll be just a human. We can handle a human.”

“I don’t like it,” Ryan admitted through gritted teeth, but allowed Michael to step between his arms. He wrapped his own around the vampire, running a hand down his back.

“Yeah, I think I got that,” Michael returned dryly. Ryan huffed, burying his cold nose against Michael’s neck. Michael grimaced, but held still. “It’s gonna be fine. He’s injured and probably starved and the transformation can take a lot out of them if it’s forced. Nothing we can’t handle.”

“We could still lock him into my office,” Ryan muttered, his fangs skimming over Michael’s skin. “I got a silver padlock somewhere.”

Michael rolled his eyes and took a step back. For a moment, Ryan clung to him stubbornly, but then he let go with a sigh. Michael cupped his cheek with his palm and turned Ryan to face him. They stared at each other silently, searching. Michael could see that this troubled Ryan, he just didn’t get _why_.

“How about you let me and Gavin take care of this,” Michael suggested, thumb stroking over Ryan’s cheekbone. “We’ll talk to the guy in the morning, find out what’s up with that pack and where they’re coming from. He’ll be gone before nightfall and you won’t ever have to see him again. Sound good?”

Ryan inhaled deeply, then sighed. “Sounds fair.”

“Good,” Michael repeated, pulling Ryan in for a short, lingering kiss. “Because the sun’s coming up and you really should go sleep in your coffin.”

“I don’t have a coffin,” Ryan sputtered, blinking rapidly. His fingers curled around Michael’s hips. “I don’t- that’s a-”

“Uh huh.” Michael chuckled. His lips brushed against Ryan’s, and he looked up from under his lashes. “Go kiss Gavin goodnight. We’ll deal with this and then tell you all about it - later.”

Ryan pressed their cheeks together and exhaled softly.

“The wolf’s gone by dusk,” he said quietly. Michael smiled softly.

“Done and dealt with,” he promised. Ryan nodded.

“Alright. Fine.”

 

* * *

 

Of course, by the time the sun was sinking again, things had changed.

For one, they’d relocated to the kitchen. For another, the werewolf was still there by the time Ryan got up. He squinted at small human sitting at the table and sipping a cup of… Ryan narrowed his eyes and smelled the air carefully. Hot cocoa?

“Why is the wolf still here?” Ryan grumbled, squinting against the electric lights. Gavin looked up from the notes he was taking, textbook placed so the wolf could easily read along. Further down the hall he could hear Michael talking to someone on the phone.

“Hey Rye-bread,” Gavin chirped, jumping up from his chair and bouncing over to kiss his cheek. The chair scraped over the floor loudly, and the wolf flinched at the noise. “Sleep well?”

Ryan met amber eyes, staring across the kitchen. The wolf dropped his gaze after five seconds, fidgeting with his mug. Ryan turned his incredulous gaze to Gavin.

“There’s a wolf. In my kitchen,” he pointed out lowly. Gavin’s smile faltered. “Not only is he still here, but you invited him into the _house_.”

“But Ryan-” Gavin pouted, eyes wide and beseeching. “We couldn’t leave him out in the cold, Ryan.”

Before Ryan had a chance to process that ridiculous statement and give it the response it deserved - because, yes, they could, and they absolutely _should_ \- Michael walked back into the kitchen, nearly bumping into him.

“-yes, I know, I know, I get it, Jesus.” Michael rolled his eyes, sounding exasperated. “Nothing came of it, Julian, so there’s no reason to tell Mo-” He was talking over the person on the other end of the phone, both of them getting louder and louder. “Don’t you dare-”

The beep of a dropped connection cut him off, the kitchen ringing oddly silent in his wake. Michael stared at his phone for a long moment before he huffed, dropping it on the counter.

“Asshole,” he muttered, but the tone of his voice was fond. Finally he looked up and saw Ryan lingering in the doorway. He smiled and walked up to brush a kiss on his cheek. “Mornin’, Rye. You’re up early.”

Ryan shrugged, uncomfortable. “The sun’s mostly set,” he said evasively. Michael eyed him, lifting an unimpressed brow.

“Uh huh.”

Ryan shrugged. Not wanting to get into how worried he’d been to leave them alone with a potential enemy again, since apparently they handled themselves well enough. The only blood he could smell was the wolf’s, and even that was old, dried. Instead he changed the subject.

“He’s still here,” Ryan stated, nodding towards the wolf.

“Right!” Gavin said, straightening. He turned his puppy dog eyes back on, leaning against Ryan’s chest. “We were wondering if Jeremy could stay with us for a while? Please?”

Ryan gave him an unimpressed look.

“Just until Michael finds him a new pack,” Gavin added hastily, glancing over his shoulder at Michael for help. “Which isn’t gonna take long. Right, Michael?”

“I don’t know,” Michael admitted. Ryan eyed the angry twist of his mouth, filed it away to question later. “My brother’s asking his pack for advice, but they’re all the way up in Jersey. It’ll take some time for word to spread.”

Gavin bit his lip. “But we can’t just send him back to his old pack, and they know what dorms he lives in!” His fingers dug into Ryan’s shirt. “I mean, look at him!”

Ryan did. The wolf - Jeremy - was staring intently at the kitchen table, his shoulders hunched. He was wearing one of Michael’s too short tank tops, leaving the fresh scar visible on his shoulder - couldn’t be older than a month, maybe two. The ring of teeth looked deep. Ryan frowned. He was also littered with still healing wounds, covered in white bandages. Even assuming his boys went overboard in patching the wolf up the number was… excessive.

Jeremy kept his head down, unintentionally showing off the bald spots on his head where the hair had been forcefully torn out.

“They’ve threatened his roommate before,” Michael brought up, gripping the counter hard enough to make his knuckles whiten. “His friends will be in danger if he goes back to the campus dorms.”

“Oh, so you don’t want me to endanger strangers, just my boyfriends,” Ryan snarked, eyes narrowing. Michael held his gaze stubbornly.

“We got you,” he pointed out. Ryan inhaled sharply, blinking. Warmth bloomed in his chest - Michael was confident that Ryan could protect them, that no harm would come to them under his roof. It left him momentarily breathless.

“I can stay in the barn, stay out of the way,” Jeremy offered quietly, ducking his head as all eyes turned to him. “Sir. I won’t be any trouble, I promise.”

Ryan scoffed. “You’re already more than enough trouble,” he told the wolf, who hunched in on himself. Ryan watched him for a long second, before he sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fine.”

“Fine?” Gavin perked up.

“Yes, he can stay. Temporarily,” Ryan emphasized. Michael and Gavin exchanged a surprised look. “Your contract states you have a say in who your third roommate is. If this is who you want, fine.”

“I can… stay?” Jeremy inquired, and Ryan turned to look at him. His eyes were wide, full of disbelief and blossoming hope. Ryan tried for a sneer, but it came out more like a grimace.

God save him from his conscience.

“For now,” was all Ryan said. Then he turned on his heel, leaving the kitchen and the growing headache behind. He tried to comfort himself that Michael, at least, was already working on getting rid of the wolf, even though he had a gut feeling that it would be more complicated than a phone call.

He couldn’t do anything about that yet. However, he could go deal with the pack invading his woods. He’d double-check that they hadn’t overstayed their welcome, or snuck back in after he left. Then he’d refresh the territory markers, make the line of his property quite clear. If they still insisted on breaching it after that... well.

As the last rays of sunlight vanished behind the horizon, Ryan took off.

**Author's Note:**

> Now that we're finally getting into the plot of this series, I'm hoping to write at least one more installment before the end of the year :D Fingers crossed!
> 
> Feedback always welcome.


End file.
